These rarely visited French Polynesian islands are a blast to the senses and a balm for the soul.
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.There was little chance of sleep with the cabin in revolt. Pens, toiletries and water bottles ricocheted off the floor, coathangers chattered among themselves, and every other minute something metallic went clunk. I was on my way to a remote corner of the Pacific in search of peace and tranquillity, but nightfall had whipped up the wind and stirred the sea. It was early April – autumn in French Polynesia.
Over the next few days, I experienced little Francophonic triumphs and abject failures: one night, I announced that I had an appointment with Eddy the ship’s Marquesan tattooist and planned to get “a turtle in” rather than “on” my bottom. A local woman was hiring out pushbikes, freshly painted in canary yellow. As I wobbled along the rutted road, I noted something strange. The island is a glowing green pendant set in an opaline lagoon. It’s improbably, almost surreally, beautiful. And yet there were no big hotels in sight, certainly no constellations of over-water bungalows. Just a few single-storey beachside pensions.
Next stop was Rapa and the much-anticipated reunion. I was up on deck early, waiting for my glimpse of French Polynesia’s most lonesome island. Although the weather looked fickle – dark clouds cloaked Rapa’s highest peak – it cleared soon after we docked for a festive lunch of performances and speeches.
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